Question

A building 50 ft high casts a 75-ft shadow. Sarah casts a 6-ft shadow. The triangle formed by the building and its shadow is similar to the triangle formed by Sarah and her shadow. How tall is Sarah?

Answer 1

Make each known side into a ratio like so...
75/6
(Because 75 is the shadow casted by the building, and 6 is the shadow casted by sarah)
and 50/x
(50 is how tall the building is and sarah's height is what needs to be found)
Therefore,
75 50
---- -----
6 x

Do cross products;
50 x 6 = 75 x X
300 = 75x
Divide by 75
x = 4ft